Travel Tips

When one says "zoo" the first thing that comes to your mind is "looking at caged animals".
But Antwerp zoo is more then this.
The Zoo in Antwerp is not only a collection of protected animals, it has a tremendous collection of art in its widest meaning:
statues, paintings, architecture, landscape architecture...

I must admit that it took someone to attract my attention to this fact before I realized how much this small place contains!

Now, when I go visit the Zoo, I look to things in quite some different way!

When Antwerp's mayor decided he wanted to fond a Zoo the managerial board contacted a local person who was specialized in stuffing up animals. This man (sorry forgot his name) had already a huge collection of insects and butterflies and lacked space.
So he agrees that if he can have a housing and his own museum, he would accept the job as manager of the zoo.
This marvelous building was build with that intention.
Now it also contains a part for festivals and receptions.

Inside the building you will find this marvelous marble stairs. Take a good look around... not all that looks marble is actually such, not all that looks like wood is actually wood... it is painted marble and wood, a technique used by specialized skilled painters.
at the end against the wall you can see a bas-relief.
The interior is very much Art Nouveau.

This is a buste of the painter Verlat, famous painter who painted the huge painting hanging in the hall with the bulls being attacked by the lions.
Artists, specialized in animals, are called animalians (hope I wrote that correct).
Verlat's grave tomb is in Hoboken at the cemetary Schoonselhof.
If you want to have a look at it, you should visit my Hoboken page.

I don't recall the artist's name, but it is a local and he pictured an event in Antwerp's history.
I think this is the one when at the newer "South" the people came together to demolish the leftovers of the South castle after it has been used as prison and the French occupiers were chased away.

When you get up the stairs, right in front of you, you will see this huge painting by Verlat hanging on the wall.
Verlat's tombstone is at the cemetary Schoonselhof at Hoboken.
Do take a look, it is a marvelous cemetary but it is a shame it is not maintained properly.

From the first floor in the building you can have a marvelous view on the tropical greenhouse through an fascinating decorated Art Nouveau window.
On special occasions, the festival hall, that makes part of the building, is opened for receptions and they open the door to the greenhouse as well. I can tell you it is marvelous drinking your champaign under these tropical plants!

Every part of the greenhouse reminds you of the early 1900's, the iron and steel glass, the Art Nouveau lanterns (see next picture).
While the temperature is tropic, the air is moisten and you hear the tropical sounds... you could pretend to be in a real jungle.... Pity it is not that big greenhouse!
While you are enjoying these pictures I might as well tell some stories about the Zoo.
The zoo originally was a private park, runned by the members of the Société zoologique. As you can see even in the Flemish part of Belgium the Francophone ruled, even long time Napoleon got out! Actually it has been somewhere in the 1970's that the Association became officialy Flemish!

After a diplomatic mission of the first mayor, after the independence of Belgium in 1830, to Amsterdam, he was welcomed in the Artis zoo and was so overwhelmed he wanted to have a zoo as well. That days the urge to exotism was very big: all that refered tropical countries was so intruiging, it was really a fashion, a hung to.

In 1843 this dream became reality.
A location had to be found outside the city centre and there was an open swamp space near the Antwerp railstation. The railstation was only a few tracs and a wooden cabin those days.

The Antwerp Zoo has taken huge advantages of the harbour of Antwerp nearby.

First of all this park was for the happy few and the rich. Being a swampy location and rich people like to walk dry feet, something had to be done about the pathways.

What they did was asking the ships that came in and had sandy stones as a ballast and needed to get rid of it, to ship it to the zoo.
So with each ship coming in and providing ballast, the pathways became better.
Another advantage of the harbour was that you could easily transport exotic animals and there were quite some ships sailing to those area's!
First the zoo asked to the captains if each time they went on a mission and came back, if they could bring thim some tropic animal.
Now the most easiest animal to transport are birds...
Soon the Zoo had made the very first cages (picture is in this travelogues) for the birds.
Problem was that the collection of birds grew so big and hardly no other animals were imported that the zoo managerial board asked the captains more for specific other animals....
Slowly the collection grew.

Nowadays you normally should not find this type of import anymore as more and more breeding programs between zoo's are being put up and a lot of animals are born in captivity.

Exchange between zoo's is done by a very restricted program and no money is involved. It is a breeding exchange program.

In 1993 the Zoo celebrated it's 150 year anniversary. At the entrance of the greenhouse you can view a few affiches with old pictures on it and some background information.
I took this one because of one story that comes with it. If you enlarge the picture then you will see on the 2nd row, 2nd picture, a photo of a black young man.
This man goes into the history of the zoo as "Fonske of the Zoo".
Here is a part of his life story:
one day a captain of a ship came to the zoo manager and asked him if he could take care of a black boy of 8 years old. Probably his family in Africa had put the kid in his arms and disappeared, wanting him to take the kid with him, hoping he would have a better life this way. But the captain said that a ship that sails for months is no good place to raise a kid his age and he should be going to school or get a job. He asked if he could leave him under the protection of the zoo? They agreed, and gave Fonske small works to do in the zoo, eventually he made it to be the first concierge of the zoo, married a local Antwerp girl and started his own family here.

Nowadays the zoo entry looks like this: 4 statues of lions gardening a gate.
Originally however, these lions had their locations at the old lioncages.
When new housing for lions and tigers was finished, they moved to the entrance.
I must say they look impressive and it is a nice entrance!

This is the list of important names who started up the zoo.
Antwerp is the 3rd oldest zoo in Western Europe.

When you enter the bird's house, you will be confronted with another kind of art, tiles:
These tiles are picturing all kinds of birds.
The zoo has a marvelous collection of tropical birds.

The bird's department is very special: the volieres are left open, there is no glass in between the visitor and the birds!
You walk in complete darkness and without the disturbance of glass that might reflect light or get dirty, you can watch these small beautiful creatures at their nicest. To add to the "decoration" each cage is painted in a different colour, really nice!

If you have time or are patient enough, you can watch how an egg is hiding a little new life inside... and if you are lucky you can witness the entring on earth of a little springchicken.

This is a comemorate plate of the architect A. Emile Thielens who designed the building in Flemish Renaissance that houses the astronomical centre in the zoo.
This centre is open to schools and groups.

This house is really a very nice building, looks almost like a little castle.
Look at the geometric designed garden in front of it.

A picture taken through one of the stain windows.

On this picture taken in landscape you have the opportunity to admire the geometric and symetric designed garden, marvelous isn't it?

One of the oldest building of the Zoo, the oriental okapi housing.
You will notice many styles of architecture in this little but most beautiful park in Antwerp.

When in Antwerp the Nervier's street was reconstructed, there was this huge statue of the Boduognat, infamous leader of the Nerviers who got defeated by Julius Caesar's army.
One of the board members of the zoo thought it was a shame to see that statue just being demolished and abandonned that he asked if he could save at least the head (all the rest was gone already into small pieces).
He took it to the zoo and put it here.
So from huge statue overlooking the Nerviers street, only this is remained.

This cages are the very eldest in the zoo. They where and are still in use for birds, more specific for prey birds.
Birds were the first animals to be important in the zoo.

This is also a very nice piece of art.
Look at the dynamism of this huge fellow!
It is made in a very complex and time consuming procedure called (litterary translated) the procedure of the waste wax. If any one knows the right English terminology, then I would be glad if you pass it on to me!

One of the favorite spots that attracts people so much are the apes and the primates.
There is quite some collection in Antwerp.
At the entrance this nice looking baboon is trying to scare you off, but don't mind... just enter :-)
and go visit your little sisters and brothers (as my father always told us).

The cages of the apes and monkeys have exits to outside. At both places a lot of branches, ropes and toys are at their disposal.
It is really cute so see them swinging around!

Most of the work that is done at the zoo is done behind the walls and underground. But at the house of the apes they wanted to share with the visitors a part of what is done about the feeding of the apes. Here you can see how fresh vegetables are cleaned and cut before given to the monkeys.
I have been on a trip behind the cages already 2 times and it is so interesting to see all (well a lot) of the activities that are involved in a zoo. The expenses are millions a year. You get to see the storage room where they keep the food for all the animals, except the meet, you will see the fruit, the mice, the vegetables, it is enormous!
You used to be allowed in the vivisection room where ill or dead animals are brought too. Each animal that dies has to be examined to search for the cause of death. Their stomach and all are being emptied and some of the contenance is kept to show us how cruel and stupid people can be!
In one stomach they found a whole towel of a hotel!, in another animal they found razerblades.
You will also see a tiny kangoeroe that is kept on "strong water"(how you say this in right English?).
Since the mouth and foot desease no entry is allowed anymore in the surgical and vivisection quarter.

oh well I think most of my coments are finished, except for some typo's :-)
My pastmidnight English is not typo-less!
Hope you enjoyed so far and you will be interested to read on, you are almost there!

Art has often been a pretext to show erotic scenes.
This huge vase shows a Greek story with lots of wine and lots of nude `-)

This statue was made by the same person who made the Brabo statue in front of the City Hall and the statues at the fronts of the Hanza house Malinckrodt, first office complex in Antwerp, situated on the corner of the Suikkerui

THE KAUKASIAN EAGLE (named Ethon?) was a gigantic eagle born of the monsters Typhoeus and Ekhidna. Zeus set it to feed on the ever-rejenerating liver of Prometheus, who was chained to Mount Kaukasos. It was eventually slain by Herakles and Prometheus was freed from this torture.

This statue is donated by the family of Darwin and is picturing him here. I don't know who the woman next to him is.

What is so perculiar about this statue is that most people walking by will only notice the big wild boar, without paying attention to a collection of plenty little animals surrounding it.
There are two copies of this statue: on in the zoo and one in the royal garden in Laken near Brussels (pls visit my Laeken) pages to have a look there.

The Egyption building houses e.g. the Elephants and the Girafs and some other animals.
The front of the building is an exact copy of an existing temple, but don't shoot me I forgot the location of it.
The signs on the walls are not just decoration, they tell a lot of stories.
Like at the top of this roof it says that this building was donated by King Leopold II to the city of Antwerp.
All figures has their meanings.
There is a lady with what looks like a waffle on her had and an arm with a knive above it, she represents the "city Antwerp".
The Egyptian is to be read in the direction that is pointed out by the figure that stands closest to it.
When you stand in front of this building like it shows on the picture then the first side wall on your right will show you 4 animals that are handled over. This picture represents the donation of animals out of the 4 different directions: North, South, East and West.
In front of you at the right the kids represents the princess and princes, kids of Leopold the II.

This picture that shows the left side walk you can see the picture of the donation of this building by Leopold II (at the right side) to the City of Antwerp )at the left side. if you enlarge the picture you will see the "waffle" and you will see the arm with the knive above it.
The 4 people underneath are the managerial board of that time.
If you practice long enough you will be able to transliterate their names.
They are looking to the left so you will have to read from right to left (direction of where their nose is pointing too)

The Antwerp zoo has a marvelous collection of aquaria with all different kinds of fish.
If you are an a tour behind the scenes, you will walk behind the wall, but on a higher level, looking down on the fishes.
Due to the breaking of the light on the water, the visitors at the other side below you, will not be able to see you.
I would suggest not stick your hands in the aquarium of the pirana's `-)

.....

There is another story behind this statue. If you look careful you will notice this Indian figure at another location too. He is carrying a dead animal on his back, obviously returning from the hunting. That is the very first statue made. It was on request of one of the managers of the zoo. Now it was not so much appreciated by every one as they said a zoo is not about dead animals but about studying them, preveal them and keeping them alive in the best circumstances possible. So out of revenge, when seats at the board switched, there was this guy who had this statue made as revenge: the same Indian figure wept from his horse and being attacked by tigers or lions and ready to become their meal.
What a revenge! :-)

these figures are famous cartoon figures of the Flemish cartoenist Willy Vandersteen.
He made a lot of albums!
The names of the two kids might differ from language to language.
If you know their names in your language, pls let me know, I can add them here!

I should write the title of this statue down. It is donnated by Kluwer, an editors company.
I show you the picture from the backside.
In front you will see an owl, but when you turn around you will see the female head, the owl representing the wisdom and thoughts, the mind.
I think it is pretty nice!

Yet another style these cages which are amongst the very oldest of the zoo. The look like cottages, the walls, the roofs.
(Kempische hoeve stijl)

At the entrance of the penguin quarter you can admire this huge and nice bas-relief of diving/swimming penguins.

I wonder why there is always a penguin hidding his head?
The new housing of the penguin (+/- 2000?) is quite nice and an improvement to the old one!
you walk through dark alleys and enjoy the sight. Crocodiles are just around the corner `-) watch out!

When you enter the zoo and stay to your very right, with the side of the Central Station on your right hand side, you will notice the path goes up.
This is not because it is hilly in the zoo but it is artificially done.
A combination of landscape architecture and hurban architecture has resulted in this construction.
You are now walking on what was at that time the huges concreet construction made in Western Europe and underneath your path, you will find the laboratoria and the animal food storages I talked about earlier.
Do you see some brides you can cross? well underneath is the path the animal care takers has to walk. They had to hang special fences for their safety for the most dangerous animal ever: MAN! People are throwing all kinds of garbage over the edge of the bridge, cans, glass bottles, whatever a non respecting tourist or visitor wants to get rid of and those poor guys were risking to get hit each time. So now this sort of fence is keeping them save for all that is not too small and is not liquid.
They told me how much they collect each month but I forgot, I only remembered it was a lot and shameful to learn that people are so terrible foolish and egoistic.
The concrete construction is thus a huge ceiling that covers quite some area. The architect who designed it, is the same who designed the Boerentoren, the Farmers tower, in the centre of Antwerp.
That was the biggest concrete tower in Western Europe by the time it was build and the architect was exercising his skills first in the zoo.

Using this kind of tricks and design, it enlarges the limited space of the zoo, which was necessary.
In early 1900 the Central Station as you can see it now, was build and the zoo had no space to grow any bigger so alternatives had to be found.
With the construction of the metro, they had to dig over 14 meters deep.
The water level dropped drastic and the platanes and other trees in the zoo were bound to die of lack of water, their roots didn't go that deep!

A solution came with the co-sponsering of Coca Cola company of huge perforated tubes that they put all around the roots and permits a constant drainage.
A big need, especially now with the huge constructions works in the Central Station that goes much deeper then the previous metro works.

A very lovely statue: two kids bathing and one gets suprised by a little snake at the edge of the water and the eldest is trying to hit it or at least chase it away

This is only half of the complete statue. What you miss are the others at the right spilling water over these two frogs and the little one is very brave showing The finger...
I think he is sitting on his dad's shoulders and therefor has so much courage `-)

One of the most famous and active animalians is for sure Bugatti, brother of the other famous Bugatti who designed the car that caries the same family name.
In fact the whole family of Bugatti was renomated as a "designers" family.
Young Bugatti was attached to the Zoo of Antwerp at young age. He made an average of one piece a day!!! The molded the form and the actually finishing was done in Paris.
He was very productive indeed.
His forms where very direct, almost brusks if you compair it with the work of his best friend below, that is more refined.
Look at the energy that is so frapant of the tiger on this picture and the real animal below.
Bugatti would have done fine if the WW II was not as destructive as it was: during the WW the zoo was closed, there was no work for artists and for safety the wild animals where put to definitive sleep.
Bugatti went to Paris where he lived with his friend but his artist's heart was left at the zoo in Antwerp. After the war he returned but he never became the same person from before the war.
At age 36 (?) he committed suicide.

I love these wild animals, how gracious they are!

This statue is made by the friend of Bugatti, but sorry, I forgot the guy's name, will have a look next time I visit the zoo and see if I can find anything about him.

When I visited in early 2002 I saw these little welps, later on in November I saw them again and they had grown a lot already.
They were sooooooooooo cute when they were little, they were with 4 of them.
Antwerp Zoo has breeding agreements with other zoo's. It is time consuming and not riskless !
First step is to bring the two, male and female together in seperate adjuncted cages, but out of sight.
They only can hear and smell eachother. After a couple of days or weeks they will open an iron that covers the barns of the door that still seperates them. Now they can watch eachother, come closer...
When they are used to eachother and seems to "accept" eachother, which can take quite some time and needs constant observation, the last barier, the barns, will be opened so they can mate.

Not so long time ago, end 90ties, it all went wrong with 2 black panters.
All seemed well but when they put the animals together to mate the male got aggresive all of a sudden. By the time they could shoot them to sleep, it was already too late for the female panter and the male died a little later of his wounds.

They are after all wild animals and remain unpredictable.

I think this goes without words :-)

With some recuperated materials, with a lot of fantasy, you can make the most cute or unexpected pieces of art.
The zoo in Spring, Summer and early Autumn is splendid to walk too.
As I pointed out: it is the most beautiful garden in Antwerp and believe me the gardners do a lot of effort to please your eyes!
Really worth a visit!
I hope you liked the little tour and it is a shame I can't add no more pictures because there is still so much to show and to tell.
oh ... maybe you just come to Antwerp and find out yourself what there is left to discover?
You are welcome if you are one of the visitors who respect the efforts of the people working here, don't litter and don't feed the animals with bad cookies and other stuff that is really not healthy for them. They get all they need here as they are all on special diets.